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> Subject: NEWS: U.S. Donors Provide Eggs, Sperm to Make Stem Cells > From: Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 22:54:03 -0700 U.S. Donors Provide Eggs, Sperm to Make Stem Cells By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time, scientists have created stem cells from human embryos using eggs and sperm from volunteers who made the donations for the explicit purpose of providing tissue for medical research, according to a study published on Wednesday. Scientists at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk said 12 women donated eggs and two men donated sperm to create embryos that, yielded a reservoir of stem cell tissue. Most research on embryonic stem cells involves tissue from embryos created in a technique for couples having trouble conceiving a baby called in vitro fertilization. The egg is fertilized in a test tube, then implanted in the uterus. Several eggs are fertilized, and embryos left behind after the procedure can be donated for stem cell research. But scientists at the Jones Institute, which fostered in 1981 the first test-tube baby born in America, recruited donors specifically to create embryos for use in medical research, not live births. Stem cells are master cells that can transform themselves into any type of cell in the body. They offer the potential of regenerating damaged organs or tissue. Many scientists believe stem cells can be used therapeutically in treating brain maladies such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and spinal cord injuries. In their paper in the journal Fertility & Sterility, published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the researchers wrote that their work was "ethically and scientifically justifiable" and it was "our duty to provide humankind with the best understanding of early human development." They said they underwent a rigorous four-tier ethics review process before proceeding. 'REALLY GHOULISH' But opponents of using human embryos in medical research denounced the work. "This is really ghoulish -- creating human embryos for the specific purpose of destroying them," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life, a group that opposes abortion and embryonic stem cell research. "It's totally wrong to kill human embryos for research." The study was published amid a national debate over stem cell research. President Bush is expected soon to decide whether federal funds can be used for research involving embryonic stem cells. "There's a tremendous interest in stem cells and their potential from the standpoint of their clinical application to humans," said Dr. William E. Gibbons, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and spokesman for the researchers. "I'm not going to be surprised to see intelligent people of good faith having differences in their opinions in this process." Gibbons said there are advantages to choosing the donors of eggs and sperm in creating embryonic stem cells. For example, younger women produce higher quality eggs, he said. Women whose eggs are fertilized using in vitro techniques generally are in their mid-30s, relatively late in their child-bearing years. CAREFUL SCREENING Donors were carefully screened before being accepted, the researchers said. They were given physical tests to guarantee they were healthy and were interviewed by a psychologist to ensure they understood the study and had no emotional problems before being asked to consent to take part, they added. "We felt that we had the purest form of informed consent from the standpoint that everybody knew from the beginning how this was going to unfold," Gibbons said. The researchers said the sperm and eggs were collected and joined for fertilization using standard in vitro fertilization methods. Some 162 eggs were collected from the 12 women. Following insemination, 110 were fertilized, and 40 developed to the blastocyst stage -- at which the multiplying cells formed a tiny ball. At the end of the process, within about two weeks, there were three healthy embryonic stem cell lines -- essentially reservoirs of stem cells awaiting use in research. Gibbons said the research was approved after a careful ethics review by four different bodies. Members of the clergy, ethicists and lawyers were involved in the process, he said. A 1995 U.S. law prohibits federal money for research in which a human embryo would be destroyed or placed at risk. "What they did could not have been federally funded. But it's perfectly legal," said John Robertson, University of Texas law school professor who heads the ASRM's ethics committee. "They certainly went through a full-scale, intensive ethics review process -- no question about that," Robertson added. SOURCE: Reuters http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20010711_35.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn